China's met coke market stable, demand weakens
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Chinese metallurgical coke market held steady on June 18, but slack steel consumption among end-users is weighing on the profitability of steel mills and denting their demand for coke, Mysteel Global noted.
On Tuesday, the national composite met coke price under Mysteel's assessment was flat on day at Yuan 1,918.1/tonne ($264.3/t) including VAT.
The frequent rainfalls and high temperatures in summer are major drags on the current steel demand in China, and the resultant falling steel prices has caused more steel mills to begin recording losses. As of June 13, about 50% of the 247 Chinese steelmakers under Mysteel's tracking admitted they were not making profits on steel sales, rising by 3 percentage points on week.
The lower profit margins drove mills to pressure independent coke firms to accept a Yuan 50-55/t cut in coke prices last week, as reported, but mills only procured the raw material based on their actual consumption need amid bearish outlook for steel market in the ongoing off season, sources observed.
The coke demand from steelmaker lacks sufficient growth momentum in the near term, as mills could reduce their production if their losses expand, a market watcher said.
At Rizhao and Qingdao ports in East China's Shandong province, coke stocks totalled 1.55 million tonnes as of June 18, uup by 20,000 tonnes on week, Mysteel's tracking data show.
Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between MySteel Global and BigMint.
